Porsche 911 Speedster revealed in New York

Shown in concept form at last year’s Paris motor show, Porsche has revealed the production version of its farewell to the 991-series 911, the Speedster.

Powered by a 374kW naturally aspirated 4.0-litre flat-six borrowed from the current 911 GT3 and GT3 RS, the Speedster is available with a six-speed ‘GT Sport’ manual transmission only and is claimed to accelerate from 0-100km/h in 3.8sec.

Developed by the Porsche Motorsport department on a chassis derived from the 911 GT3, just 1948 examples will be built in recognition of the year Porsche first received its operating licence.

Like previous Porsche Speedsters, this latest version features a low-cut windscreen and side glass with a lightweight, manually-operated fabric top.

Other light-weighting measures include the use of carbon-fibre for the (front) boot lid, front guards and signature ‘streamliners’ smoothing airflow over the rear (carbon) decklid.

Standard ‘Porsche Composite’ brakes are 50 per cent lighter than the standard cast-iron rotor system, air-conditioning is deleted (but can be added as a no-cost option), and the six-speed gearbox is 4.1kg than the seven-speed found in other 911 Carrera models (and 18kg lighter than a ‘PDK’ dual-clutch auto). Overall weight is 1465kg.

According to Porsche Cars Australia, local pricing and launch timing will be confirmed in May. For reference, the 997-series Speedster of 2010 weighed in at $519,800, plus on-road costs.

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